Do stop in on the Round the World Blog Hop

Last week Karen over at easypatchwork tagged me in the round the world blog hop. I first got to know Karen through the monthly Doll Quilt Swap in which I particiapte. She was my first swap partner and I couldn’t have asked for a better introduction to the swap group. I’ve not yet met Karen in person but all of that is about to change as we will both be attending the Peaks 6 retreat in the French Alps at the weekend. Needless to say I am really looking forward to the weekend.

But as this post is supposed to me an introduction to me and my blog I guess I had better tell you a few things about myself.

1. What quilting/sewing thing am I working on?

First of all let’s change the “thing” in that question to “things”. There are always at least a few different projects on the go here. At any given time I always have a couple of on-the-go projects as well as a few different larger and small projects on my sewing table. At the moment my on the go projects are my version of the Lilipopo christmas lists stitch along, the last step of which I plan to finish on the train to and form work today, as well as more of my English Paper Pieced (EPP) Liberty butterflies.

On my work table there is a quilt for my nephew that was started a few months ago and which is top of my to-finish list now that autumn is here and the evenings are getting cooler. There are also three mini quilts in various stages of production. One of these is for the monthly doll quilt swap group in which I am a participant, the others are for the IGMiniSwap and for the Little Quilt,Sew,Vote,Swap Group that I recently joined on Flickr.

2. How does my work differ from others of its genre?

My work differes in that it is largely my own. I am not a fan of patterns and remaking the desings of other. I much prefer to design my own pieces. As a totally self taught quilter I don’t believe in rules. I love to play with techiniques and ideas in non-traditional ways to make them my own and to make what I want to make with the techniques I choose to use. A prime example of this would be my EPP work. I started with designing EPP Liberty butterflies and am working on an ever expanding collection of these for a quilt I plan to make.

I have taken these ideas and designs to make a smaller prototype version of the quilt which also incorporates some Quilt As You Go (QAYG) blooms of my own design.

Not content to just create butterflies I have also used my skills with EPP to design and make dragonflies, a camera and even a teddy bear. There are several more designs in the works as I play around with using EPP to create a whole host of unique designs.

3. Why do I write/create what I do?

I have always loved to create. I knit, sew, crochet, quilt, cross stitch and embroider and am always in the process of creating new items. In recent years I have started to use the Internet and blogs more and more in order to find new information, learn new skills or to help me to fabricate new ideas. Because I have learned so much from so many others over the years it felt only right that I too should start to share my work, ideas and ideals and in the process maybe help some others in the same way I have been helped over the years.

4. How does my writing/creating process work?

I have never really thought much about either my writing or my designing /creative process. When it comes to creativity I find that I draw inspiration from all manner of sources. In the past I would often just sit down and sketch out ideas with pen and paper as they came to me. More recently I find that I have become much more reliant on modern technology. I will often pull out my camera phone to photo something that sparks off an idea in my head, add a caption to the photo to remind me of why I took it and then come back to that idea when trying to desing something. I will regularly sit down to my computer to sketch ideas for blocks, quilts or EPP designs.

My writing process is almost scientific in it’s evolution. Having trained as a fisheries biologisist and having been used to writing scientific articles for publication in journals, and elsewhere, I pretty much use the same techniques I always used in the past when writing for my blog. I start with the topic, ensure that the strucutre of the writing includes an approximation of introduction, results and discussion sections and that each has the appropriate illustrations. It is not something I really think about or plan but rather something I pretty much do as I go.

So there you have it, a little bit about me and my blog. To keep this hop rolling around the world I’d like to tag two friends of mine who I hope will introduce themselves and their blogs next monday, October 6th.

Elisabeth over at Shark’s Dinner has been a good friend of mine since I moved to Switzerland over 10 years ago. She’s always been a great sewer and has never failed to wow with her creations. In more recent years she has taken up quilting and I never cease to be bowled over by the beautiful pieces she creates. Her EPP designs are particularly stunning.

Francine from Mochawildchild is another talented quilter whom I first met earlier this year when I attended my first ever retreat, Peaks 5. I find her style to be bright and modern and she has a great eye for colour and desing combinations.

I hope that you have enjoyed visiting with me and my stop on the hop and that you will continute to follow it and join in the fun as it makes it’s way around the world!

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3 thoughts on “Do stop in on the Round the World Blog Hop”

Hi Paula! You are very kind! You know I love your EPP butterflies and your embroidery is exquisite! You mini quilts continue to amaze me with your take on design. I look forward to seeing you soon! Karen

It’s wonderful to get to know you better through your answers to these questions. You are really taking EEP to a whole new level with your butterflies and dragonflies, and your needle work and stitcheries are so beautiful.